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NewsDay

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AfDB extends $3m to Parly

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Parliament has been awarded a $3 million grant by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to strengthen its watchdog role and help it make the Executive and other institutions dealing with public funds, more transparent and accountable.

Parliament has been awarded a $3 million grant by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to strengthen its watchdog role and help it make the Executive and other institutions dealing with public funds, more transparent and accountable.

by VENERANDA LANGA

AfDB officer in charge Mary Monyau announced the release of the grant during the launch of the strengthening institutions of transparency and accountability project in Harare yesterday.

Clerk of Parliament Kennedy Chokuda said the project sought to strengthen institutions of transparency and accountability that work with Parliament to exercise its oversight functions. The institutions include the Auditor-General’s Office.

members-of-parliament-listening-to-the-presidential-address

“In respect to Parliament, it is going to support the budget office which we will establish in a few months’ time, and which is an important institution in terms of providing oversight to Parliament to be able to scrutinise government policies,” Chokuda said.

“It will impart knowledge to Parliamentary committees such as the Public Accounts Portfolio Committee, Finance and Economic Development Portfolio Committee, Mines and Energy Portfolio Committee and the Agriculture Portfolio Committee.”

Chokuda said AfDB support was pivotal for economic growth, as well as to achieve ZimAsset goals. He said the bank’s support had gone beyond Parliament as it had also advanced $35m to the City of Bulawayo.

Establishment of the budget office will be of advantage to MPs as they will be capacitated to scrutinise government spending, budgets, and audit reports from the Auditor-General’s Office.

“It will also support the Parliament Women’s Caucus and the Parliamentary Legal Committee, and strengthen accountability and transparency to promote economic growth,” Chokuda said.

Auditor-General Mildred Chiri said the financial injection by AfDB would go a long way in assisting her department, which was currently struggling to execute its duties using modern international financial computer systems and auditing trends.

“They will assist the AG’s Office to install intranet for efficiency of operations in fulfilment of information technology policy, and customisation of the IT audit manual to the Zimbabwean environment,” she said. “They will also assist with automation of audit working papers because we are still very manual in operations, and our office must computerise as other AG’s offices in the Western world are paperless.”

She added computerisation would assist her department produce reports online and enable MPs to debate audit reports online.